|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Category: Uncategorized
-
-
Hi, all! We had a tough but joyous year. We are thankful to God for all the graces and blessings He has bestowed upon us this year. Sorry we haven’t given an update in a while. Nash shares a bit more about our 2017 below.
“He is no fool who gives
what he cannot keep
to gain that which
he cannot lose.”
–Jim ElliotI frequently pray to God to make me a Christ-like husband at whatever
the cost. A year ago, Rachel and I counted down the New Year at home
by ourselves with one of our greatest blessings in hand, Baby Johnny.
It was the evening of December 31st when we brought him home in the
rain. Tired, but excited, we were sure we had everything under
control. I loved Rachel, I loved Johnny, and I loved God above all.However, God revealed to me that though my heart loved Rachel and
Johnny more than others, I wasn’t actually showing it in my actions or
even my thoughts. Though I slowed down on ministry, my mind was
constantly fixed on it. Though I took time off from work, I kept
thinking of the slowed progress on paying debt. Though I made sure our
family had some time to rest, I held on to appointments with others
that tired us more.
Finally, God presented one of the toughest trials to strain our
marriage down to its bare bones. I felt like I could’ve lost my family
to say the least. I could be exaggerating since I’m still a new
husband and father; but I cried to God in anguish for help. After God
spared us any more pain, I had to reevaluate our home. What things in
life are most precious, and what am I willing to give up?Jesus taught his disciples that he “…came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)
This is the essential call I took as the husband and father of The
Quintans’ Nest: as the leader, I’m a servant. The more Rachel and I
gave to each other, the more the other responded in humility; and I am
responsible for initiating that.
One year later, God has strongly answered our prayers. We love God
more, our family more, and others more than we could’ve ever imagined.
Moreover, God is still helping us become servant-like as he taught his
disciples. The fact is marriage is an evangelistic display of Christ’s
love for the church. I love God, I love Rachel, and I love others;
there’s nothing to lose by being a Christ-like husband! Although it
took this past whole year for God to answer our prayers, his patience
with us has not been in vain as He faithfully completes the work He
started in each one of us here at The Quintans’ Nest. Praise God for a
serving and patient wife, a happy 1 year old son to train up, and a
patient doggy who takes all that the baby can throw at him.
A Happy New Year to your home from ours.
A Note From Rachel:
I cannot begin to describe how grateful I am to God for all that He has done, given us, and grown us from this past year. As Johnny turned one, I was able to look back at the evidence of God’s work and the various ways that Christ has sustained us. I am also very much humbled by the opportunity to be a homemaker, enabling me to completely focus on the things that matter to us– discipling our son’s heart and creating a home that serves as a refuge for my family, and a place of rest, and a source of hospitality.
Praises
• Stronger faith and family love• Nash and Rachel both survived Fall Semester
• We’re slowly getting back into Church Ministry (and Rachel to the Seminary Wives program)
• Johnny is still alive! As well as Mommy and Daddy…
Prayer Requests:
• Nash and Rachel’s Spring Semester.• Parenting with wisdom from God.
• Bible translation opportunities for future mission work (stay tuned).
• Our own home to move into.
-
“I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”– Psalm 9:1
Greetings from The Quintans Nest!
It has been an interesting couple of months around here. Johnny turned 2 months old last week, got his shots, and learned to coo and giggle! He has been such a joy to us. He is sleeping an average of 5 hours every night! He is so strong, able to hold his head up and pull himself to a standing position when he is leaning on us. He is very determined! On one hand, it is so exciting to watch. On the other hand, it is a little nerve-wracking. It is amazing to watch him grow so quickly. His face seems to change every day and we are trying our best to document every moment.
Nash has settled into his new job very nicely. He finished his 90-day evaluation and got a perfect score! Still, there is so much to do and learn in clinical research. He is taking his first work-related trip to Louisiana at the end of this month. Seminary has been interesting, as he is only taking one one-unit course this semester. Sometimes it seems trickier when you have less to manage. He has also eased his way back into ministry while learning to pace himself and balance home life with everything else.
Rachel is still healing, though we must say, quite nicely. She has regained most of her strength and sometimes feels like she can take on the world, a huge miscalculation, of course. She has been flooded with a ton of help and support thanks to family and friends. She starts back up with online schooling this coming week, easing her way back into Biblical Counseling with one class.
To top off the many blessings we have mentioned, here are a few more praises:
1. We paid off about $5,000 in debt these last 3 months! Our snowball game is strong! Thank God for His provisions!
2. Nash will have the opportunity to have some paid paternity leave later this year. Here comes some family bonding time!
3. We qualified for a decent amount in Federal Grants for both of our school costs, covering up to 90% of our tuition fees.
4. Lastly, we are dedicating Johnny in front of our congregation.
We hope you can join us:
Please continue to pray for:
Perseverance: Though we have been managing quite well,
we are still very tired parents!and
Wisdom in making decisions for the family.
In the love of Christ,Nash and Rachel
-
Johnny was born on December 29th at 11:44 AMHe was 7 lbs 4 oz, 21 inches long!!Rachel was in labor for 32 hours total.
Lolo Jun escorted us on January 1st as we drove home from the hospital. He then helped us get settled in. The first night was the roughest, but thanks be to God as we have already fallen into a great sleep and feeding schedule!
So far, we have had great support from friends and family who have come over to cook, clean, do laundry, set-up Johnny’s things and simply run errands for us. We are especially grateful for his Lola Rachel who has non-stop picked up after us so we can sleep, eat and shower. In Nash’s case, finish up the last leg of this semester’s assignments!
In our birthing class, we were given excellent advice in regards to “hosting” visitors who want to see Johnny. They called it the “first serve, first cuddle system” where if you wanted to come hold and snuggle with the baby, you owe us a chore or an errand! Fortunately enough, though, 90% of our visitors put themselves to work before we are able to explain the process!
-
Just sharing a photo-heavy post from one of our baby showers!Photos by Fred Tam
-
I have not been blogging about this pregnancy just because I was so nervous about what had happened to Noël. I found the journal I had started with her and even the pages from my journaling bible that I had spent time reading to her.
I also realized that I do not talk to this little boy as much as I did with Noël.
My thoughts for tonight, however, are more drawn towards how weary I have been feeling with everyone’s demands. I feel as if I am not even sure what I want or what to expect and yet so many people have voiced out their excitement and expectations and plans to me. I realized this boy is not simply mine, but I so long for intimate time with just him and I, and Nash, of course.
I don’t want to have to cater or entertain and miss out on precious moments with my son. I want to experience labor and delivery in the solemnity that it is.
However, more importantly, I want to honor my God. If that means humbling myself and giving in to “life’s demands” over my own desires, then so be it. I just hope that in the next 4 weeks, I will be able to discern what exactly that looks like and surrender my heart to His will.
“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good spirit lead me on level ground.” –Psalm 143:10
-
Nash has a new job!
We thank God for the new job that Nash has at Loma Linda University’s Research Department. He has been spending the last month learning the ropes and going through rigorous training. This last week he was finally assigned his own clinical trial case! 🙂This new job comes with amazing benefits and a nice pay raise. It is looking like we will be delivering this baby boy at Loma Linda Medical Center!
Our family threw us an amazing shower!
We were certainly overwhelmed with all our families coming together to shower us with so much love! We had relatives hailing from as far as San Francisco. We were able to fulfill about 75% of our registries and our nursery is almost ready!We have a 2nd shower coming up from our friends and Church family this coming Sunday and we are very excited about it.
Rachel is in her 33rd week! We see the baby moving across her belly often. He has quite a personality already– he responds to certain foods, scents, and sounds! He loves it when daddy sings and plays the guitar!
Along with all the baby activity is a lot of discomforts. Thankfully, Rachel just finished the semester and won’t be taking classes again until after March.
Please Pray For…
- The last stretch of Nash’s semester!
- A continually healthy pregnancy.
- God to prepare us for parenthood.
-
Seminary Updates + God’s Providing Hand
About a year ago, we began our journey at The Master’s Seminary knowing it would be difficult, sacrificial, yet eternally rewarding. But we’ve held to one verse desperately in our hands, lest by losing faith we dishonor God:
“33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
This isn’t optional, nor is it a suggestion for God’s people. Jesus says “Seek first God’s kingdom above your provisions; they will be provided.” -Matt. 6:33
We’ve resolved to trust and obey God’s Word during seminary, knowing that endeavors done God’s way will not lack God’s support. One of those resolutions is to not take any more loans or debt including student loans. “Owe no one anything, except to love each other…” (Rom. 13:8).
So, Nash decided to drop 1 of only 3 classes this semester because of unexpected financial costs during summer. It was hard not to take any student loans, especially when close friends and family encouraged him to do so. But Nash was sure God’s way was best.
Almost as soon as school began, an anonymous donor generously offered the seminary a scholarship to cover any classes students wanted to add. So Nash not only added back the dropped class but added two more classes, making him a full-time student with about $3,600 sponsored in scholarship money!!
Baby, Baby!
Rachel’s working hard at school, walking a lot, and eating healthy for Baby Q. She’s just finished her first session of classes and A’cing them!
It’s been exhausting though. She’s had recent asthma attacks and was worried after not feeling Baby Q kick during that period of asthma. After the care and prayers from our family and church family, we were admitted to be sure for our baby’s health and to control Rachel’s asthma.
Being discharged safely home, Baby Q is now kicking more than enough to make up for lost time! Rachel’s still trying to control her asthma. She’s using the humidifier hoping her current inhaler will do the trick, and still walking daily with Donny (our mini-pinscher). If the inhaler doesn’t fully control the tightness in her lungs, she’ll have to go back to try other medicine to control her asthma. We’re just happy Baby’s ok; thank God, who hears our prayers!
By the way, Baby Q is a baby boy!!
Please Pray For…
- Nash to manage his time well, especially in juggling full-time work, full-time school, and preparing to be a full-time father!
- Rachel’s studies, health, and the baby’s health!
- To trust God’s Word instead of ourselves, and through that the more we will see His glory.
-
The ever-hospitable and gracious fathers toured us on our last two nights to show us hidden gems that locals get to enjoy in regards to Rome. While the famous monuments and tourist-laden spots were glorious, there was definitely something encing Rome like the locals do. Tag-on the fact that Father King was celebrating his citizenship,
-
What’s new this summer?
“Marhaba!” to all of our beloved family and friends from the Quintans’ Nest. This hot summer has been wonderfully full of God’s providence, including an introductory class to the Arabic language!This Summer, we focused our time on killing more debt. God has been gracious, allowing Rachel to work as an independent contractor with flexible hours; this flexibility is important for us. Also, Nash has been working more hours while he’s on summer break. He’s also job searching and has been offered a few different opportunities.
In the midst of the summer schedule, we enjoyed a nice trip to Colorado, a family reunion, and our third honeymoon in Park City, Utah. We didn’t think we’d be able to go, but this was Nash’s Parents wedding gift to us on our wedding day.In May, Nash received his license to preach by our home church, charging him (and his wife) to the teaching ministry to remain faithful to God’s truths. Our seminary encouraged him during this process as they know the weight of importance this has for him and God’s name. He preached a series through the book of Obadiah, a book seldom preached from. Now, preaching through Jonah, Nash explains Christians are privileged “ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us…”.In July, Rachel was accepted into The Master’s University for their unique Biblical Counseling program. Theology is useless without practical application, and this program does not ignore the Bible at any step of counseling, but depends on the sufficiency of scripture to counsel people through life’s challenges. To join this school has actually been Rachel’s unrealized dream since 2011, until now.Now, without further ado, an announcement most close to our hearts is the announcement of our new baby Quintans! Rachel is about 20 weeks pregnant and craving! She is beautifully glowing. All her senses, emotions, and loved ones around her are heightened. We thank all of you for your love that has been expressed in spontaneous gifts, prayers, and time. Perhaps one of our most intimate moments with our child was seeing his small body through the ultrasound, then hearing his strong heartbeat pound the drums of our ears while our hearts stopped. We don’t know yet whether we’re going to have a boy or girl, but we just pray for health.Please keep us in prayer as we seek to be good stewards of God’s resources by fighting debt, as we continue learning and enjoying God’s truths in scripture, as we remain His unceasingly faithful messengers, and as we prepare our family for our precious baby. We love you all, and frequently think of and pray for you.Love,Nash, Rachel, Baby Quintans, and Donatello
